Carroll County Board of Commissioners and ESAC Joint Meeting – February 12, 2026

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners met jointly with the Emergency Services Advisory Council (ESAC) on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. in the Reagan Room of the County Office Building. The afternoon session, covered by the transcript, was a Fire and EMS briefing and discussion covering accomplishments, FY27 staffing requests, apparatus replacement, volunteer funding, recruitment/retention, and a possible third-party operational study. The agenda also listed earlier open-session items (courthouse security purchase, Priority Carroll, legislative update, medical supplies spending authority, propane contract award, Ford F-250 purchase, and a Chapter 94 public hearing request), but no transcript or minutes for those items were provided.

DFEMS Accomplishments and Operations

• ESAC Chair Rick, who also represents stations 1, 12, 13, and 14, reported that the Department of Fire and EMS (DFEMS) responded to 25,517 incidents over the past year. He noted that all 13 stations now have planned career staffing for fire and EMS positions.
• More than 30 administrative and operational policies have been written or updated, including driver training, an accident review board, command/chain-of-command protocols, common radio terminology, and on-scene reporting. ESAC approves safety-related policies in draft while awaiting further comments.
• Leadership changes include making EMS supervisor positions lieutenants with supervisory authority, improving span of control at Mount Airy, Sykesville, and Westminster.
• New clinical capabilities were highlighted: ventilators, IV pumps, and the whole-blood program. ESAC credited Medical Director Dr. Kemp for training and life-saving successes.
• Training program accomplishments: 10 students passed EMT certification; 15 students started Firefighter 1 class; 79 juniors participated in a September junior day; another junior day is planned for April 11 and an awards ceremony for April 7.

FY27 Staffing Requests

• The department currently has 224 total personnel, compared with the 232-person target set with the previous board. ESAC requested:
  • Eight additional floater positions to cover leave, FMLA, light duty, and injuries. In 2025 there were 26 holdovers of more than 24 hours, 91 holdovers of 12–23 hours, and 40 holdovers of under 12 hours, totaling 2,080 unplanned holdover hours. Chief Michael Robinson said holdovers are a major retention and morale issue and can force paramedic ambulances in Mount Airy and Union Bridge to be downgraded to EMT ambulances.
  • Four safety officers, described by ESAC's chair as the top priority, to provide dedicated on-scene safety at incidents and to manage compliance training, equipment maintenance, and OSHA/MOSH requirements. The chair cited an Illinois town that declared bankruptcy after a line-of-duty death and a $31.5 million lawsuit upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court, as well as a prior Maryland OSHA citation.
  • Three station captains by upgrading existing lieutenant positions at Mount Airy, Westminster, and Sykesville (no net new positions), creating a single point of contact for volunteer chiefs and promotional opportunities.
  • One additional logistics support person; currently one logistics person serves 13 firehouses, and the quartermaster recently suffered an on-duty fall with no backup.
• Chief Robinson asked the 14 volunteer departments for staffing requests and received a request for 29 additional people. ESAC acknowledged that a total of 42 new positions is unlikely but discussed using SAFER grants to fund some positions, noting counties still must match funds and costs rise in the third year.

Apparatus and Fleet Replacement

• Three new ambulances are on order for delivery in late 2027 or early 2028. ESAC warned that by 2028, two ambulances will approach 300,000 miles, one will be over 20 years old, and 16 ambulances will have over 100,000 miles. It recommended purchasing five ambulances per year over two budget years and considering demo units, which can be delivered in about six months compared with a two-to-three-year build time.
• Chief Robinson described industry constraints: only about six major ambulance manufacturers remain, tariffs and supply chains affect aluminum and components, and large departments like FDNY consume much of production. The county has one county-owned reserve ambulance and two owned by CC VISA, but ideally needs six reserves.
• On the fire engine side, ESAC reported volunteer corporations have committed about $7.5 million for apparatus (four engines, a heavy-duty rescue squad, four utility vehicles, two duty vehicles, and an ATV), and more than $22 million in equipment has been reviewed through the ESAC process since it began. One new Sykesville engine, built by E1, costs $1.3 million.
• The county has only one reserve engine when three are expected for ISO insurance ratings. ESAC warned that missing reserve-engine requirements could raise homeowners' insurance by $200 to $600 per year and significantly increase commercial insurance costs. It recommended establishing an apparatus replacement schedule, looking at demo fire trucks, possibly rehabbing the current reserve engine, and supporting volunteer companies that keep multiple engines.

Volunteer Funding and Retention

• ESAC said the annual 3% county budget increase for volunteer companies is not keeping pace with wear and tear, call volume, higher apparatus costs, and longer delivery times. Volunteer insurance deductibles have risen from $1,000 to $10,000 per incident; the county pays when a career employee is driving, but volunteer corporations must pay when a volunteer is driving.
• The existing $50,000 interest-reimbursement cap in the CC VISA budget is another concern; one department already exceeds it because of a building mortgage plus a new engine purchase. ESAC said departments requested $300,000 in interest reimbursement this year, which the county indicated it cannot sustain.
• Chief Robinson noted the county and CC VISA have consolidated common purchases across the 14 companies, used county procurement contracts, and paid utilities and maintenance, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• For retention, ESAC said career employees currently have no published pay scales, while neighboring jurisdictions do; pay scales would be projected career steps and a major retention tool. Volunteer-side ideas included improving LOSAP, restarting a tuition/student-loan reimbursement program, and offering property tax breaks, citing an Anne Arundel County example of a 10-year tax break for volunteers meeting LOSAP and public safety employees living in the county. One commissioner questioned who would pay for tax breaks and whether they are fair to all taxpayers.

Third-Party Operational Study

• Chief Michael Robinson recommended a comprehensive third-party evaluation of the entire Fire and EMS department, using ISO, NFPA, and accreditation benchmarks, plus interviews with stakeholders and citizens, to guide the next phase of the transition. He said studies typically take four to six months and vendors include ICMA and the International Fire Chiefs.
• ESAC cautioned that past studies sometimes became “shelfware” and that the RFP must be tightly scoped and attainable. Commissioner Kiler stated a third-party study is “a must.” Commissioners asked ESAC and the department to provide prioritized needs and quantified costs.

Key Outcomes

• No formal action items or vote tally are recorded in the supplied transcript for the afternoon session; it was largely a briefing and board discussion.
• The Board asked for additional data, including a prioritized ranking of staffing requests, quantification of accident deductibles and interest costs, and possible RFP parameters for a third-party study. ESAC indicated its own priority order: safety officers first, floaters next, and the logistics position as a separate need.
• At the close of the meeting, the Board thanked Rick for his six years as ESAC president, noting he is term-limited and cannot serve another term. The meeting ended with a voice vote, though the transcript does not identify a substantive motion.